When Opportunity Comes Knocking...

Image I took in November 2012 when First
Lady Michelle Obama came to campus.

            Since I started at Miami, I’ve had the opportunity to attend lectures and events with public figures and interesting people. Last year, I had the opportunity to hear First Lady Michelle Obama speak and I attended a lecture given by Zainab Salbi, who grew up in Saddam Hussein’s inner circle. I had several other opportunities that were available to me to see figures such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jerry Springer, but I couldn’t fit everything into my schedule. This week, I attended a lecture given by Benjamin Jealous, the President and CEO of the NAACP. I had hoped to attend a lecture given by Kari Byron and Tori Belleci from the show Mythbusters that was also this week, but this lecture sold out before I had the chance to get a ticket. Other than educational lectures, I also had the opportunity to see bands such as Timeflies, South Jordan, Parachute, and O.A.R last year. In addition, I’ve seen comedy groups such as Dakaboom, and Sketched Out, Miami University’s own improv group. Later this year, I have the opportunity to see comedian Jim Gaffigan. While all college campuses make an effort to bring public figures to their campuses, I feel that Miami does an exceptional job with this. In talking to my friends who attend other schools, I’ve recognized that I’ve had more opportunities to attend lectures such as these, as well as concerts and comedy nights. Miami does a lot for the students and makes it easy to find something to do on campus. There’s always something going on somewhere on campus, and in my experience, the events are generally worth attending.

It’s so easy to be involved on campus, especially when there’s such a wide array of events to attend and different organizations to participate in. There are so many groups on campus that put on their own programs each week, it’s impossible to attend them all. I attended a lot more events then I listed, including sporting events, but these are the ones that stand out in my mind the most. My experiences at Miami so far have been mostly positive, and the events that I have participated in have helped create some of the best memories of my freshman year of college, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this year and the years to come have in store.